The Lipscomb tennis teams served up an ace Thursday night as they raised $1,600 through their “Spinning for Haiti” fund-raiser.

The ties to Haiti are deep with the Lipscomb tennis program. Lynn Griffith, Lipscomb’s former tennis coach, has some pretty special ties to Haiti. After making numerous trips to the country Griffith and his wife adopted Samuel, a Haitian boy who spent most of his life as an orphan.

When the earthquake struck the small country, Griffith jumped at the opportunity to help in any way possible. Working with Helping Hands International, he went down to Haiti to lend a hand.

Inspired by their former coach, the Bisons and Lady Bisons wanted to do something themselves to make a difference in the midst of this tragic crisis.

In an attempt to help the devastated country of Haiti, the Bisons put together a spin-a-thon to raise money to purchase water filters for Haitian families suffering from the earthquake.

“All the money raised is going to Healing Hands International, who will be using the money to buy water filters that can filter up to 500 gallons of water each,” junior Joe McArdle said. “With the sanitation problems caused by the earthquake, as soon as it rains all of the sewage is going to sink into the wells the Haitians are drinking from. It’s going to become the biggest problem down there.”

The Bisons’ three-hour event was divided into 30-minute time slots for donors to choose from. With 14 available bikes for each 30-minute slot, the goal was to raise $1,000, asking for a $10 minimum donation per rider.

With most all the spots full, the tennis players were confident they would achieve their goal. When the final tally was made they were pleasantly surprised that the grand total was $1,600.

“We had over 50 students and 20 faculty members turn up to ride for Haiti,” McArdle said. “But the amount raised was almost doubled by additional donations. We were aiming for $1,000 so to make $1,600 and be able to help so many more families have access to clean water is brilliant!”

Written by Ashlan Williams, student tennis writer for the Lipscomb Sports Information Department.